The Wasatch County Council dove into discussing the 2027 budget Wednesday, Sept. 16, including requests for new vehicles and more county staff.
By the end of the year, councilmembers will need to pare back those requests and prioritize what's needed most.
At $124.3 million, next year's expenses will be more conservative than this year’s $131.8 million budget.
Assistant County Manager Heber Lefgren said that’s largely because of fewer construction costs planned in 2027.
“The main reason for why it’s decreasing is we have that large capital project of the courthouse that we are finished and we’re moving forward,” he said.
The county will not raise property taxes next year.
Government departments requested a total of $3.7 million in new expenses, including nine full-time employees, benefits and facility and equipment needs.
County Manager Dustin Grabau said the budget currently only has room for a fraction of those requests.
“You can see, you know, $3.7 million of requests. The general fund has about $500,000 of surplus at the moment,” he said. “Heber sometimes works some magic and squeezes some water from rocks, and we make things work, and it has worked. But we're kind of at the point where there's no more water from those rocks.”
Councilmember Spencer Park raised his eyebrows at a request from the sheriff for an armored vehicle that would cost nearly half a million dollars.
“I don't know when that would have been used in Wasatch County in the last 10, 15 years,” he said. “I can see that it would be fun. And I feel that police officers, law enforcement in general, is moving to more wanting to be Navy SEALs.”
He and other councilmembers will ask the sheriff to explain the need for the vehicle.
Other requests on the list include a new school resource officer, an artificial intelligence expert, janitorial services for the new government building and 100% county contributions to healthcare premiums.
The next budget discussion is set for Nov. 4.
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